Mary McLeod Bethune (1875 - 1955)

Bethune was born of slave parents. She graduated from the Moody Bible
Institute of Chicago in 1895, at which point she commenced her lifelong
commitment to working with blacks to achieve expanded opportunities. In
1904 she founded the Institute for Girls in Daytona Beach. When in 1923,
this institution merged with a men's school (becoming Bethune-Cookman College),
she became its president. Bethune served on numerous federal commissions
under four presidents.